23-year old righty swinging 1B C.J. Cron is off to a good start in the minors for the Angels.  He has played in 31 games in AA-ball so far this year and he is 36 for 119 (.303 avg, .772 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 17 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Cron has now played in 194 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 234 of 787 (.297 avg, .861 OPS) with 112 runs scored, 41 homers, 181 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  Cron is the Angels’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America.

Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton get all of the headlines, but 27-year old righty swinging 1B/DH Mark Trumbo has been the best hitter on the Angels so far this year.  He has played in 33 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 39 for 134 (.291 avg, .910 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 9 homers, 23 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  He has whiffed 39 times so far this year, but the Angels will accept the whiffs for the power that Trumbo provides them.  Trumbo has now played in 334 games in his first four years with the Angels and he is 323 of 1,232 (.262 avg, .795 OPS) with 150 runs scored, 70 homers, 207 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Josh Hamilton played in 148 games for the Rangers last year and he was 160 for 562 (.285 avg, .930 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 43 homers, 128 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  The Angels then gave him a 5-year, $133 million deal over the winter.  He has been a utter bust so far this year.  Hamilton has played in 29 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 25 for 120 (.208 avg, .544 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Hamilton has only walked 6 times while whiffing 37 times so far this year, which is pretty pathetic.  The Angels need Hamilton to start swinging the bat like he can.

31-year old righty Jerome Williams is going to move into the starting rotation to replace 24-year old righty Garrett Richards.  Williams has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Angels so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.  Richards was only 1-2 with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in his first four starts of the 2013 season.  Richards has pitched in 8 games (4 starts) overall this year and he is 1-2 with a 5.04 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.  The Angels hope that Richards turns things around in the pen, as they have high hopes for him.

The Angels have signed 27-year old righty reliever Josh Judy to a minor league deal.  Judy was pitching for York in the Atlantic Independent League.  He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for York this year and he was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.  Judy pitched in 12 games (0 starts) in 2011 with the Indians in his only taste of the majors and he was 0-0 with a 7.07 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.

The Los Angeles Angels have placed 26-year old righty swinging CF Peter Bourjos on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained left hamstring.  Bourjos has played in 22 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 26 for 79 (.329 avg, .860 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Bourjos has now played in 321 games in his first four years with the Angels and he is 236 of 930 (.254 avg, .716 OPS) with 129 runs scored, 23 homers, 85 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.  This is a bad break for Bourjos, as he has really been swinging a hot stick so far this year.  Mike Trout will slide over from LF to replace Bourjos in CF until he’s ready to return to action.

26-year old lefty swinging 1B Efren Navarro is off to a fast start with the bat for the Angels in AAA-ball in 2013.  Navarro has played in 24 games in AAA-ball so far this year for the Angels and he is 27 for 86 (.314 avg, .842 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  He has now played in 730 games in his first seven years in the minors and he is 761 of 2,630 (.289 avg, .755 OPS) with 351 runs scored, 37 homers, 347 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.  Navarro did get into 8 games for the Angels in 2011 and he was 2 for 10 (.200 avg, .573 OPS) with 1 run scored.  Navarro could get another shot with the Angels at some point in 2013, if he continues to rake in AAA-ball.

The Angels have dealt 32-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Snyder to the Baltimore Orioles for 28-year old righty reliever Rob Delaney.  Snyder played in 21 games in AAA-ball for the Angels this year and he was 27 of 79 (.342 avg, 1.072 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 7 homers and 21 RBIs.  He wasn’t going to play for the Angels this year unless Chris Iannetta or Hank Conger went down to injury.  Delaney pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 0-1 with a 10.12 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP.  He has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 10.50 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP.  Delaney has pitched in 340 games (0 starts) in his 8 years in the minors and he is 29-23 with 80 saves, a 2.79 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.  Delaney could benefit from a change of scenery, as like Dane De La Rosa, he has good stuff.  I like this deal for both teams, as the Angels got a nice arm for a backup catcher, which was a big need for the Orioles.

The Angels have placed 30-year old lefty reliever Sean Burnett on the 15-day disabled list due to left forearm irritation.  Burnett has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Angels so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 1.04 ERA anda  1.39 WHIP.  Burnett has given up 8 hits and he has walked 4 batters while whiffing 7 batters in his first 8 2/3 innings pitched.  The Angels hope that Burnett is ready to return in a couple of weeks as he has been a huge asset to the pen so far this year.

32-year old righty starting pitcher Joe Blanton is off to a very slow start in 2013 for the Angels.  He has started 4 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 0-3 with a 7.84 ERA and a 2.08 WHIP.  He has given up 38 hits (6 homers) while only walking 5 batters and whiffing 8 of them in his first 20 2/3 innings so far this year as he is getting hit very hard.  The Angels are going to stick with Blanton for a while longer as he is a proven veteran starting pitcher.  His track record suggest that he will straighten out things in the near future.